


Plebeian - Back In Time

by cutsycat



Series: Dictionary.Com Word of the Day Drabbles [1435]
Category: NCIS
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-16
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2021-02-07 06:43:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21453727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutsycat/pseuds/cutsycat
Summary: Tony woke up in a hospital. When asked who the president was, he answered confidently. It wasn't the right answer, however, and he soon understood why as he got a good look at the date on the newspaper. Can Tony make a new life for himself? Or will he manage to return to where he's from?
Relationships: Anthony DiNozzo/Jethro Gibbs
Series: Dictionary.Com Word of the Day Drabbles [1435]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/444514
Comments: 18
Kudos: 46
Collections: Prompts for Cutsycat - NCIS (2018)





	Plebeian - Back In Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Appletini](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Appletini/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [Appletini](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Appletini/pseuds/Appletini) in the [cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2018](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2018) collection. 

> Another dictionary.com word of the day drabble. This time from 04/05/2003 for the word [plebeian](http://www.dictionary.com/wordoftheday/2003/04/05/plebeian).
> 
> plebeian[ pli-bee-uhn ]  
adjective  
belonging or pertaining to the common people.  
of, relating to, or belonging to the ancient Roman plebs.  
common, commonplace, or vulgar:  
a plebeian joke.  
noun  
a member of the common people.  
a member of the ancient Roman plebs.
> 
> This was requested by Appletini as part of my 2018 prompt challenge [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2018/profile). The 2018 Prompts are closed, however, you can still sign up for the 2019 Prompts [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2019/profile). More instructions are below if you wish to sign up. 
> 
> **Prompt:**
> 
> Tony gets hit on the head and wakes up in the hospital. When asked who the president is he replies confidently. But it turns out the person isn't president yet, Tony has woken up in the past. Like retrograde amnesia but the opposite. Will Tony get back to his own time or is he just delusional? Maybe he can make better choices this time around.  
**End Prompt**

“Where am I?” Tony croaked out as he looked around at the sterile white room. Perhaps the answer should be obvious as it looked like a hospital, but he meant more than that. As he didn’t remember anything that should have resulted in him needing a hospital visit.

“My hospital. What do you remember?” the doctor, an older gentleman, standing over him asked.

“Not a thing. What happened to me?”

A concerned expression passed over the doctor’s face. “We’ll get back to that. First, let’s determine what kind of memory loss we’re looking at.”

Tony glared at the doctor, but the man didn’t seem to care. He just wrote something on his notepad before asking, “Who is the president?”

“Bill Clinton.” Tony answered with absolute certainty.

The doctor frowned and wrote something on his sheet of paper. “What about your name?”

“Tony DiNozzo.”

The doctor hummed and wrote it down. “When did World War 2 end?”

“1942? I think.” Tony frowned. 

“Ok. I need you to repeat these words back to me.”

Tony nodded in understanding.

“Hemorrhage, Tumor, Blood Type, Cancer, Leukemia, Strep Throat, Amnesia.”

“Are you trying to freak me out?” Tony couldn’t help joking.

The doctor just glared at him and Tony sighed and repeated the words back absolutely correct. The doctor nodded and told Tony that he was going to order some additional tests to help determine what they were dealing with. 

“When can I go home?”

“Not for a while, yet. Once we have the test results I’ll have a better estimate for your release date.”

Tony didn’t like that answer. There was obviously something that the doctor didn’t want to tell him and that bothered Tony. However, it was obvious he wasn’t getting out of here anytime soon, so Tony settled back in the bed and tried to relax.

After the battery of tests were finished, the doctor returned and asked Tony the same questions he had before. Tony gave him a weird look and gave the same answers. He knew those were the correct answers. He didn’t understand why the doctor was asking them again. Had the tests revealed something concerning?

When the doctor frowned at his responses, Tony became really worried. “What’s wrong?”

The older gentleman murmured, “This reminds me of a time where a young man like yourself entered my hospital.”

“Doctor, get to the point,” Tony interrupted the rambling.

“Don't you worry. I'll figure out what this is.”

As the doctor turned to leave, Tony called out, “Hey! Can I get a newspaper or something to keep me occupied in my prison cell? The TV doesn’t appear to work.”

The doctor squinted at Tony briefly, but then nodded. “I’ll have a nurse bring one to you.”

Tony really didn’t like this. He didn’t remember what he’d been doing and the way the doctor was behaving made him think that something was really wrong. Still there wasn’t anything he could do about it, right now. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something familiar about the doctor, however.

The nurse bustled in. “Here’s today’s paper.”

Tony nodded his thanks and took the paper. He then blinked at the date printed on it. “Wait!”

The nurse turned back around, “What is it?”

“Are you sure this is today’s paper?”

The nurse returned, looked at the paper, and nodded. “Yep. Has today’s date and everything.”

Tony cursed. No wonder the doctor had been looking at him oddly. He’d somehow been transported about 30 years in the past. Fuck.

He didn’t know how he was going to get out of this. He doubted that anyone would believe him if he told them that he was from the future. He had a bad feeling that he was going to end up in a mental hospital, at least until they figured out what to do with him.

The doctor ran some more tests, but everything came out the same. His memory was sound, so long as you didn’t want to know about current events. He tried to explain that he was from the future, but he was pretty sure it didn’t help his case any.

He knew they would eventually have to let him go, though, as there was nothing physically wrong with him. Even once he was released from the hospital, he had no idea what he would do. He didn’t know anyone. He didn’t know how he got here. He had no idea where to go or how to get back to his time.

He tried to pretend like he knew what was happening during this time, but honestly he didn’t remember much about the seventies and eighties. He had a vague memory that the seventies were full of free love and such, but he didn’t really know what that meant. He felt like everyone was supposed to be doing drugs and being mellow or something like that. He hadn’t seen anyone like that, however, so he wondered if he was misremembering.

Regardless they finally released him to join the rest of the plebeians in this timeframe. He walked out of the hospital and looked around in confusion. He really had no idea where he was. 

Nothing looked familiar to him and he didn’t recognize any of the street signs. On top of that, the roads were mostly made of dirt not concrete. He felt like he was in a completely different world.

Shaking his head, he moved along. Standing around and staring at the scenery like an idiot wouldn’t get him anywhere. He wished he had an explanation for how he got here, but he really had no idea. Without an idea of how he got here, he was just going to have to resign himself to the fact that he was here now and make the best of it.

Randomly choosing a direction, he headed off. He had no idea what he was looking for. He assumed they had inns or hotels somewhere in this city even in this timeframe. 

There weren’t very many people around and he wondered if he was going the wrong way. He spotted the general store and walked inside. Hopefully, they could give him directions to an inn or hotel or something. 

When he entered the shop, he spotted an older gentleman running the cash register and one that looked to be closer to his age sulking grumpily in a corner. The older gentleman was actively ringing up a customer. Instead of waiting for the older man to be free, Tony headed for the younger gentleman.

He couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Is something wrong?”

The sullen blue eyed man briefly glanced at him before grunting and shaking his head. 

”Are you sure? You look kind of grumpy.”

The lips quirked slightly at that and Tony couldn’t help staring. Those lips looked so familiar. He didn’t know why, though. 

“Can I sit with you?”

“Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” The blue eyes narrowed as they stared at Tony.

“Nope.” Tony popped the p. “Just released from the hospital today.”

“Oh. You’re the one who’s crazy.”

Tony blinked. “Is that what they’re saying about me?”

A nod.

“Well, I’m not crazy. My name is Tony and I’m just new to town.”

“Gibbs,” the young man grunted.

“Leroy!” the older man yelled from across the store, “Don’t introduce yourself that way. Use your first name.”

Gibbs glared at his father before turning back to Tony, “I’m Leroy Jethro Gibbs, call me Gibbs, and I’d rather be anywhere else than here with my dad.”

“Can you sneak away? I’d love someone to show me around town.”

Gibbs glanced up at his father, who waved him off. “Sure. Come on.”

Tony grinned. “So why are you here if you don’t want to be.”

“I’m on leave from the Marines. I’ll be deployed again soon, so there’s not much point in getting my own place.”

Tony nodded and guessed, “But you don’t get along with your dad?”

Gibbs shrugged. “We get on fine I guess. We just don’t see eye to eye very often.”

“Is he always in your face trying to get you to do things his way.”

“He used to be. It’s why I joined the Marines.”

“I never thought about doing that. I wonder if I would have been better off.”

“Your dad?”

“If you can call him that. He left in me in a hotel when I was twelve and didn’t notice I was missing for two weeks and then only because of the hotel bill.”

”I wish my dad would forget about me like that. He’s always making me do chores and shit.”

“Trust me, it’s not as much fun as it sounds. I would love a dad like yours that actually cared whether I lived or died. How long until you deploy again?”

“I have leave for 2 more weeks, after that, it will depend on when they need me.”

“Well I have nothing better to do. How about I help keep you occupied and away from your dad? We can meet up every day.”

“I think I can do better than that. I bet my dad would be willing to put you up since you have nowhere else to go.”

“Oh, I can just get a hotel or an inn.”

Gibbs looked amused. “The closest inn is the next town over. We’re lucky to have a hospital here and it’s only thanks to Ducky that we do.”

“Ducky?”

“He was your doctor.”

“Oh. He made the hospital?”

“Well not exactly. More like he retired from the military and demanded that the town folk help him set up a hospital, so that he could continue helping people.”

“Sounds like a good guy.”

“Oh, he’s definitely the best.”

They spent hours talking and Tony couldn’t help a feeling of deja vu. He’d recognized the name of his NCIS boss and Ducky’s as well, but from what he remembered of both their history they hadn’t met until they joined NCIS. He was even more weirded out now, though trying not to show it.

He’d always had a crush on his boss, despite the age gap, and he couldn’t help wondering if this was his chance to actually have a relationship with Gibbs. His only explanation for this oddity, however, was that he’d somehow ended up in an alternate reality. There was no way this was actually the past, but he still had no idea how he’d get home.

Admittedly after meeting younger Gibbs, he wasn’t sure he wanted to go home anyway. They hadn’t kissed, yet, but he was going to be living with the guy and he felt like he would get a chance to do that and more. Honestly, he was surprised that Gibbs wasn’t married to Shannon, but he was going to count his lucky stars on that one.

He’d been minorly flirting with Gibbs, the entire time Gibbs showed him around, and Gibbs had been returning his advances, so he was feeling pretty confident that Gibbs was interested back. He didn’t want to push it on the first day, however. They’d toured all of Stillwater, including walking past the Sheriff’s Office and the one bank. 

That reminded Tony that he didn’t actually have any money. “I should probably look for a job to help pay for my food and board.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’m sure my dad would be willing to hire you.”

Tony worried about that. He couldn’t imagine working for Gibbs’ dad and hitting on Gibbs was going to go over well, but in a small town like this there probably weren’t many other options either. The Sheriff’s office was closest to NCIS work, but he remembered what small town law enforcement was like and he really didn’t want to do that.

He was surprised when they finally returned to the store to see the elder Gibbs smiling at him. “How was your day out? Did my son show you around town properly?”

“Yes, sir. He did a great job.”

“I’m not sir, Jackson is fine. I’m glad to hear he met your satisfaction.”

Tony inclined his head in acknowledgement. 

“Is it ok if Tony stays for dinner, dad?”

“Of course, son. He can stay as long as he needs.”

Gibbs turned his head to Tony and winked as if to say, see I knew he wouldn’t care.

Tony was actually kind of looking forward to seeing Gibbs and Jackson interact. However, he didn’t expect Jackson to take an interest in him. His questions were very invasive and Tony couldn’t help feeling like he was being interrogated to determine if he was good enough for Jackson’s son. 

Of course, it only made him more convinced that Gibbs would be open to his advances. He went to bed looking forward to exploring a relationship with Gibbs and becoming part of the family. It was all he’d ever wanted as a kid and he was so happy to have a chance at it now. He wouldn’t waste it.

**Author's Note:**

> The dictionary.com series has no stories already written for it after this one, so I will be posting at least no more stories before I stop posting again. I'm hoping to get more stories written before then, so that I don't stop posting for a while. Wish me luck! 
> 
> It's 2019 now and I have closed my 2018 Prompt collection, but fear not my 2019 Prompt Collection is now open [here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/cutsycat_NCIS_Prompts_2019/profile). Just click the sign up link. ;) It will remain open until the beginning of 2020. I'm hoping to complete all the 2019 prompts by the end of 2020. Do not fear I have not forgotten about the 2018 prompts and will continue working through them. It's just easier for me to not get overwhelmed if I keep the prompts separated by the year they were given to me.
> 
> If you are not an ao3 member, you can prompt me [here](http://cutsycat.livejournal.com/50701.html). Please follow the same rules as are listed in the above link. However, because this is a handmade prompt form(that thinks it's a poll), it is considerably more limited than what ao3 provides, so please use the ao3 form if you're an ao3 member. Please note the name option is for a name that I can say this is for so that you know it's for you. Since this is for non ao3 members it won't be true gifts, but you will be mentioned in the notes. Please note if you have already voted in the poll and would like to request more stories you can just add a comment to the poll. Please include the name along with the prompt, so that I can appropriately gift the prompt to you.
> 
> For any authors that want to chat and/or are looking for a place where they can toss plot ideas around and get input from people, you can come join my discord server that is specifically geared towards writing/encouraging people to write and authors. The invite link is [here](https://discord.gg/HFvwpCq). If you're not an author, but want to chat with me about writing/stories or anything else you are welcome to join. I reserve the right to boot you from my server if all you do is pester me about updates, however. *grin* Really anyone who wants to talk about writing and/or plot ideas for various stories is welcome to join. 
> 
> Also, Drakonyashka has translated a couple of my works into Russian. [Tutelage](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378780) and [Imbue](http://archiveofourown.org/works/12378840). Go support them. 


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